DA The McDowell Books:Two:Thirteen Going On Thirty
by 00Tyler00
Summary: Set thirteen years after Freak Nation. Centered around the ups and downs of Alec and Max's turbulent family. Thirteen Going On Thirty: Alec and Max help Logan out by putting an endangered woman up in their home…but is she all she seems?


The McDowell Books

The McDowell Books

By Tyler

(www.tylersdarkangel.)

Disclaimer: DA and all its characters are the property of James Cameroon. The infant characters of Brac and Nyx were originally created in a fic by Valjean.

Basic Outline: Set fourteen years after Freak Nation. Max and Alec have been partners for thirteen years, still living in a largely-functional and swelling Terminal City. The Familiars are no longer at large although they still hunt transgenics with a passion. The world view on transgenics is now officially tolerant, although a great deal of the ex-Manticore creations still choose to reside in TC to live their lives free of discrimination. Max and Alec are largely still the heads of operation at TC, and balance their work lives with the raising of their two children, Brac (13) and Nyx (11).

Book Two in the McDowell Series: Alec and Max help Logan out by putting an endangered woman up in their home…but is she all she seems? Rated R for adult content, explicit sex and language.

Thirteen Going on Thirty

"Max, I said no."

Alec rarely did that. In fact, his usual response to the question 'can we have a party' was an enthralled "Bring it on!"

Not today, apparently. Today seemed to be a day for rare occurrences – such as Max being the one to propose a surprise birthday event for Brac. Last year Alec had had to sweet-talk her into allowing her precious front room to be packed out with her son's bizarre and rather wild crowd of friends for a couple of hours.

"Yeah but your logic's flawed, Alec, and in my mind you're not being fair!" She pouted slightly and crossed her arms.

Alec's head shot up at that remark from where he had been eyeing the juice in his glass skeptically. Brac's complaint about it being six years out of date was still grating on him.

"Oh I'm bein' very fair, Maxie. You're the one who's not remembering our agreement."

"And what agreement was that?" Max knew it was a vilifying question, but she had to ask it anyway. She had no idea what Alec was going on about.

Alec sighed dismally as he drummed his fingers on the counter. "TC's gotta be a deadzone for the next 48 hours startin' this afternoon. Mole got wind of a suspicious flock of jets that have been scouring areas with a large transgenic population. Nobody's gotten hurt yet, but we felt it would be safer to impose a 48-hour curfew and transmitting ban seein' as it looks like the airborne sniff-outs are coming our way."

"I know this part – what's this agreement you keep yapping about?" Max hissed as she felt her pager buzz against her hip.

"That _was_ the agreement, Maxie!" Alec was giving her one of his frequently-used expression – except it was one he rarely used on her…the 'how could you be so stupid' grimace.

"Well then maybe we could throw Brac a slumber party." She glanced down at her pager and then felt her eyebrows arch. There was no mistaking that number. It was Logan.

He hadn't paged her in over a month now. Logan and Asha had been as busy as Max and Alec over the years, juggling their 'cybernetic superhero' work with raising their kids. It wasn't like the couples had wanted to break off contact, but they each understood the respective other party led very busy lives which didn't necessarily have space for everything at once.

"Look Maxie, I got nothin' against the kid having a blast for his big day. I'm just sayin' that we might have to plan the grand orgy for another time." Alec nodded at his mate. "Who is it?"

"Logan."

Alec's eyebrows curved upwards, "Oh really? That's a rare occurrence – wonder what he wants."

"Maybe he remembered Brac's birthday." Max shrugged with a smile as she punched in the numbers on the landline phone.

"Speakin' of Brac, have you seen him around this morning?" Alec twirled his pen dejectedly as his eyes lolled over the sheets of paper spread out on the counter in front of him. He hated paperwork, Max knew. And on mornings like these, when there was a fat stack of the stuff staring him in the face, Alec's two consolations were an ice-cold beer and exchanging smart-mouthed remarks with his 'lil' buddy'.

"Yeah I sent him downtown to pick up our rations so we could plan what we were gonna do for him." Max replied, unable to keep the disappointment she was feeling out of her tone, and hoping her mate knew it wasn't aimed at him.

It was merely that throwing their children the kind of birthday celebrations that they had been denied at Manticore – well, more like their whole lives, seeing as they didn't actually know their exact dates of birth – had become an important tradition to Alec and Max. Thirteen was also a very significant birthday, apparently.

"Right, well I'm callin' him back. I can't cope with all this crap." Alec was muttering to himself as he pulled out his cell phone, "Say hi to Logan for me."

Max nodded as a voice crackled over the receiver.

"You've reached the number you dialed."

"Logan, it's Max. You paged me?"

"Max!" His voice rang with genuine warmth. "Yeah, look I know you and Alec are probably really busy planning a party for Brac, but I was wondering if you could help me with something."

Logan's words stung, and Max mentally noted down that they were going to do something for Brac's birthday that day even if they had to snatch up some plane tickets and fly to New York for a Laker's game.

"We'll see what we can do." Max responded to Logan's query, moving out of earshot of Alec's animated conversation with his son.

"I got a call this morning from a Linda Sandburg. Her father was a huge informant for Eyes Only up till a month ago when he disappeared in Detroit. I've been on the prowl for the man but so far any leads have fizzled out."

"Sounds like the bad guys got him." Max commented dryly as she took a bag of chicken out to defrost for dinner that evening. "So what did Linda Sandburg want?"

"Well besides her father, the woman's asked Sung for protective custody since her house had been vandalized three months in the last four weeks. Nothing's been stolen, but a string of death threat graffiti's been tattooed to just about every item she owns."

"Poor thing…imagine having 'I'll slit your throat, Sandburg' spray-painted on your panties." Max remarked absently as she hung a dishtowel back up on its rack.

Logan sighed at her commentary, "The crux of the issue is that Sung can't offer her protection due to some of the shadier deals her father pulled. But he is on the sniff for Linda's stalkers and has some hot leads. In the meantime though, Linda's gonna need a hideout."

"So you want us to hole an Ordinary up in Terminal City and just hope that the toxins don't do the job that these 'stalkers' would have done themselves?" Max could see where all of this was leading, and she didn't like it. Transgenic Central had enough on its plate without having to house another hunted being – especially when they weren't going to receive a speck of sympathy from its residents.

"She would develop immunity if she was given one healthy dose of transgenic blood. It would only need to last her for around two to three days tops." Logan's quiet persistence was one of the many traits that had always endeared him to Max – and annoyed the hell out of her at the same time.

"Logan, I don't know." Max sighed as she flicked on the kettle and pulled two mugs from the rack, "I'd have to discuss it with Alec and others, and to be honest, this isn't a very a good time."

"Well there is one last thing before you do that." Logan's voice had gone slightly sheepish all of a sudden. "I asked Linda about the tentative idea of holing up there for a week, and she was willing to do it – on one condition."

"Condition?!" Max barked, banging the teaspoon she was stirring with sharply against the china mug. She was vaguely aware of Alec's drawling halting all of a sudden and was sure he was leaning back in his chair to try and catch a whiff of her conversation.

"This Linda woman sounds a real piece of work, Logan, laying down ifs-ands-and-buts on a very thin rope!" Max hissed, and she could almost picture Logan shaking his head.

"All she's asking is that she could stay with you and Alec during the timeframe, seeing as she's what you so lovingly dubbed an 'Ordinary' and would be thrust into a very tense and isolated situation!" He insisted pleadingly, "She's heard a lot about you two and it seems she feels you're the only ones she could trust."

Max snorted, "What exactly have you and Asha been telling this woman about us, Logan?" She stopped herself from heaping another teaspoon of sugar into Alec's coffee. He always snuck into the kitchen and added an extra one anyway.

"Max, you know that you would be Linda's only shot at feeling at ease during a very traumatic time in her life." There was the faint sound of clacking in the background as Logan spoke, "Look I'm not going to insist on this, Max – I know you've got your own set of problems. But I also know you've got good hearts, the pair of you, and I trust that you'll make the right decision."

Damn that Cale. Max rolled her eyes in an effort to stave off the warm, fuzzy feeling creeping over her. She sighed and then rubbed her eyes.

"I'll talk with Alec about it. When do you need an answer by?"

"This afternoon."

Max blew out her breath. Go figure. "Alright. How're Asha and the kids?"

"Great. We're all doing fine." A grating bleep sounded in the background, and Logan drew his breath in sharply.

"Sorry Max, I gotta run."

"Hot link, right?" Max's smile was bittersweet; this was exactly the way their last conversation had ended…just when Logan had been giving Max some valuable information on coaching Nyx in her French – a language Max couldn't grasp for the life of her.

"Yeah an informant I've been trying to get in contact with for a month just popped me up." Logan sounded apologetic, "Take care, Max. Say hi to Alec and the kids for me."

"Alec sends his regards." Max responded gently.

"Swell. Wish Brac a happy birthday for me and tell him I'll send him those links he's been bugging me for."

"Will do."

There was a silence – that annoying, awkward silence that always had to chill the air of Max and Logan's post-breakup conversations. She shattered it.

"Call you this afternoon."

Alec's face was a picture of curiosity as she stalked back over to the counter with two steaming mugs of coffee. He didn't even take his customary gulp which he would dramatically savor. Instead he cut to the chase.

"What'd Logan want?"

Max opened her mouth and then closed it again, bringing her mug to her lips and taking a sip.

"Oh come on, Maxie – I'm pissing my pants with curiosity here; what'd cyber-hero want?"

"I think it's the right thing to do."

Max couldn't stop herself from choking on her coffee at the proclamation from her mate. This day had really progressed down the path of unusual events.

"Oh stop it, Max. You know I'm always willin' to play the knight in shining armor for a poor, defenseless woman." Alec paused and then narrowed his eyes, "Wait – she is hot, right?"

Max rolled her eyes and slugged him in the shoulder. "This has serious repercussions, you idiot!"

"I know!"

"There are things you're not considering here, like who is gonna be Miss Sandburg's blood donor for the happy little immunity shot she's going to need!" Max slid off her counter-chair and glanced up at the door.

"Well I'd volunteer for the transfusion, but seein' as you're the one with the special blood and I'm the one with a phobia of needles…"

"And where is she going to sleep?" Max ranted on, ignoring her mate's remarks. "Cuz I just sprayed the couch with that new bug repellent and the stuff was way too strong! I couldn't even sit there this morning without my nose feeling like would burst!"

"That spray was top-quality, Max – you just OD'd." Alec stated huffily. He'd had to pull some major strings to score the stuff after Nyx had found out the hard way that their sofa was bug-ridden.

"You're not getting the point, Alec." Max growled as she stalked towards the door. Before she could get to it, however, the lock turned and Brac pushed it open, stepping inside with a wide smile on his face and a couple of large, brown paper bags.

"Grubs up!" He called glibly in response to the frown Max was sending his way as he set the bags down on the counter, "Sorry for pickin' the lock, Mom, but I managed to score some doughnuts and you gotta eat'em while they're hot."

"All is forgiven!" Alec was stating magnanimously as Brac handed him a sticky, white package and stuffed a doughnut into his own mouth at the same time.

"Alec!" Max snapped, "For being the one who was so insistent on that rule, you're sure quick to dismiss it when it suits your purposes!"

"Maxie, I'm a man of reason, and in this case, a deliciously sugared one for lettin' it slide is sittin' right in front of me." Alec said with a grin as he devoured the doughnut, and Brac snickered at the remark from a full mouth.

Max rolled her eyes. Like father like son. Brac knew Alec's weaknesses, namely because they were so similar to his own, and he played on them just enough to get what he wanted without giving his tactics away.

"Well before you whoof them all down, remember to save one for Linda Sandburg." She responded sourly, and Alec rolled his eyes between chews.

"Who?" Brac raised his eyebrows quizzically.

"Your new housemate apparently, according to Alec." Max didn't know why she was suddenly feeling very uncomfortable with the idea of putting the fugitive from injustice up at her place. Maybe it was Alec's over-eagerness and the way his eyes had sparkled with a hungry, predatory gleam when he'd asked if Linda was hot. Max had never thought herself to be the jealous type – she couldn't afford to be with a mate as good-looking as Alec. She usually ignored his flirtatious antics and teased him about any undesired stalkers. But for some reason, an uneasy feeling was shuffling around in her stomach, and she didn't like it.

"Maxie, this was your idea. All I did was give it my stamp of approval." Alec tutted at her with a wag of his finger as he scoffed down another doughnut.

"Well before you guys go and decide we need a renter, I'll be asking which room you're plannin' on leasing out!" Brac snapped as he prepared to fill some glasses with a dusty-looking liter bottle of Coke which looked like it had been through hell and back.

"Hey what are you doin'? Put it in the freezer for a while, buddy – warm Coke sucks." Alec evaded the question as he clamped a hand down on the bottle and then nodded towards the fridge.

Brac scowled, "Somethin's up here, Dad, and if you two aren't gonna tell me what it is…"

"We're not. Not yet at any rate, so beat it." Alec responded flatly, and Brac pointed a finger at his dad.

"You ate three of my doughnuts!" He reminded him with a knowing glance, "That constitutes a little payback on your end of the scale!"

Alec was ready for that one. "No, I ate _two_ of your doughnuts, one for winkin' at the fact you picked the front door lock again and the other for you eatin' half my Twiglets the other night!"

Brac scoffed, "A handful of breadsticks the size of Jinn's manhood doesn't even come close to one of these doughnuts!"

"For God's sake!" Max snapped, and the two went silent. "You two are totally obsessed with food, you know that?"

"That's not true, Maxie – I left a whole plate of egg salad for you and Nyx to finish off last night." Alec responded with his 'don't be ridiculous' smirk.

How could one man have so many different kinds of grins?

"She's not sleeping in my room." Was Nyx's flat-out statement when the news was broken to her.

It was all settled. Sandburg was already on her way – would be there within two hours, they had been told. Max had buzzed Mole and felt the idea out. The nomalie had sounded a little wary and given her one of his lectures about ordinaries being trouble even on a good day.

Max had coolly replied that Alec had promised to take full responsibility for Ms Linda Sandburg during her stay in TC.

"Nyx, you're bein' unreasonable." Alec's poor-me tone usually did the trick when it came to dealing with Nyx. She was a daddy's girl all the way.

But then, Max reminded herself with a snort, today was now officially Rare Occurrence Day.

"You can bunk with me and Maxie for a night or two! It'll be just like the old days, me and my buddy Nyxie shining torches in each-other's faces and tellin' ghost stories." Alec clapped a hand on his daughter's shoulder enthusiastically.

Max cringed. Alec had just shot himself in the foot. Somehow that big, lovable screw-up was failing to realize just how quickly his eleven-year-old daughter was changing.

Or more likely, knowing Alec, he was just trying really, really hard to ignore it.

"You know, there's a reason those wonderful sleepovers don't happen anymore, Dad." Nyx scowled, and Brac laughed from behind the book he was skimming.

"Yeah it's cuz Nyxie started growing tomato bumps and gained the subsequent bad attitude."

"That's it," Nyx shrugged Alec's hand off her shoulder and stormed over to the boy, "You're gonna get it, Brac!" The young girl was increasingly self-conscious about her body's first obvious manifestations of puberty, and her brother knew it.

"Wish away, Nyxie, I got Birthday Exemption!" He whistled back tauntingly, catching Nyx's wrists in his hands and holding her back with a snigger.

"Don't overstep it." Max warned curtly, feeling Nyx's embarrassment and remembering her own at that age.

"Speakin' of which; hey Dad, can I have a party?" Brac queried in-between laughs as he toyed around with his kid sister and Nyx growled in protest as she continued trying to hit him.

"Sure, if you want to play Sleeping Logs by candlelight." Alec's attempt at sarcasm was the best he could do at letting his boy down lightly.

He wasn't feeling any better about this then Maxie – hell, he was most likely feeling even worse. But TC had rules, and even the McDowell family wasn't above them.

Brac's face narrowed into a disbelieving scowl, and he held Nyx still for a moment as she attempted to wrestle him to the ground, "What'd I do?"

"It's more about what _Mole_ did." Alec growled at the image of his lizard-headed compadre, "He manhandled the rest of us into turning Terminal City into a deadzone for 48 hours due to a security scare. Hey," He stood up and patted Brac's arm with a grin in an attempt to wipe the crestfallen look off his son's face. "Come Thursday this'll all be one big bad dream we had and I'll make it up to you with a night on the town, whaddya say?"

"Sure." Brac nodded, but his lips were twisted slightly in disappointment. He shrugged. "Whatever. It's not like things aren't gonna get interesting enough with this Linda woman around. What is she, a scientist? Cuz I heard lab geeks are secretly real kinks."

"That's it!" Nyx interjected, shoving away from her brother and turning to wave an emphatic hand at her parents, "No way she's sleeping in _my_ room!"

"You're both overreacting about this whole thing." Max placated, crossing her arms over her chest and looking to Alec for support.

What she got was a broad smirk leftover from Brac's last remark that was quickly smothered into an obnoxious shrug which served to remind her: Alec really didn't like it when X5 – 452 accused _anyone_ of overreacting.

Max cast him a withering glance and then turned back to her children who were eyeing the whole exchange with great amusement that was quickly suppressed into solemn expressions matching their mother's.

"I'm sure Ms Sandburg isn't gonna be any trouble whatsoever." Max forced herself to sound as sincere as she possibly could.

_She's gonna be nothing but trouble_. The thought hit Max like a ton of bricks as she shook hands with their highly-appreciative guest.

Sandburg had silky, red-hot hair, daring cheekbones and a smile that could charm the pants off a great deal of the male (and female) population of the world. The woman was a couple of years younger then Max and Alec – just kicking off thirty– and was sporting a chiseled yet curvaceous build which suggested that she was most likely to be in as premium condition by the time she was the X5's age anyway.

"Once again, Mrs. McDowell, I can't thank you enough for letting me stay." Sandburg was cooing. Her voice had just the appropriate amount of husk in it to be killer.

"No problem, and call me Max." Max retracted her hand over the counter and put the kettle on for the second time that day.

"Thanks, and please – it's just Linda." Sandburg glanced around the apartment with an air of eager curiosity as she took the barstool that Max had motioned her to.

"This place is great. Really cozy, I mean – it just feels like a home."

Max smiled, "Well, family's what makes it a home. Otherwise it would just be a bunch of rusty piping and leaky taps."

Linda laughed. Damn, why did it sound so tinkly?

"I can see we're going to get along great. My apartment's a dump but give me my comforter blanket and my fish tank and you will never be able to tell me it's not Heaven on Earth." The woman gratefully accepted the cup of coffee Max was holding out to her. "Thank you. So where's the rest of the family? Logan told me you have two children."

"Alec took them out to pick up some stuff we need before the freeze. They should be back any time now." Max sipped her coffee and tried not to notice the comparatively perfect poise with which Linda was drinking hers.

Somehow she made it look like she was imbibing a deliciously sweet shot of Rose Tequila.

"I can't wait to meet them. Logan's told me so much about your family."

Max groaned dramatically from where she was laying out some candles for that evening.

"That can't be good."

"Oh it all was, I can assure you. I'm just waiting to find out how much he's told you about _me_." Linda tossed her over her shoulder and it glistened in the afternoon sun streaming through the window.

Something about the way she said that made Max look up. "He said you were a friend and needed a place to lay low for a bit. Any friend of Logan's is a friend of mine, and plus…I know what it's like to be hunted."

Linda nodded wistfully, "I'm sorry for all the trouble my sort has put you through. You're more human then we are."

Max smiled, "We're all howling at the same moon – that's what matters."

At that moment, the door cracked open and in tramped Alec and the kids, their hands full of plastic bags. Alec preempted his mate.

"Before you make any disparaging remarks about me picking the lock, Maxie, these bags are really, _really_ heavy." He stopped whining as he caught sight of their visitor. "Well this must Ms. Sandburg."

Max resisted the urge to note down Alec's every move as he set his bags down on the counter and shook the hand Linda was holding out to him.

"It's a pleasure."

"Oh no really, the honor's all mine." Linda smiled warmly as she stood up to greet Brac and Nyx. "It's Alec, isn't it?"

"You can call me 494 if that's what works for you." Alec responded teasingly, and Linda's brows scrunched together slightly. She looked worried that the X5 was insinuating that Linda was discriminating against his kind.

Max intervened, "Alec's joking, Linda." She frowned at her man, "Stop being a jerk."

He held up his hands, "Man can't say a word around here now there're two hens in the house."

Linda laughed nervously and then turned to shake hands with Nyx, who obliged her with a smile but a skeptical glint in her chocolate eyes.

At least there wasn't the customary frown of distrust Max had been expecting from her daughter at the sight of an Ordinary. Alec must have pep-talked the kids during their walk.

"Hello, you must be Nyx! Logan told me you were gorgeous, and I can see he was understating!" Linda's matter-of-fact remark brought a glimmer of a shy smile to Nyx's lips.

"He's always sayin' that. It's cuz I look like Mom apparently."

"I'm sure you have all her wonderful traits and a new batch of your own to make you as pretty as you are." Linda smiled.

Nyx was blushing now.

"Whoa, lady, ease up with the compliments. You're gonna make her already-inflated head explode." Brac quipped dryly as he unpacked the contents of his bag into a cupboard.

"Brac," Max frowned, but Linda was already at her son's side and looked ready to work her magic on him as well.

"Oh come on, she's beautiful! Are you seriously telling me you kids don't look in the mirror and give yourselves weak knees?" She said playfully as Brac turned to face her.

"No." He responded as he looked down at her stonily, "We look like our parents, don't we?"

"What's that mean?" Alec's tone turned menacing all of a sudden.

"I love this guy!" Linda tapped a hand on Brac's shoulder with another Tinkerbell laugh. "Logan told me you inherited your father's unique sense of humor!"

Neither Alec nor Brac seemed to like that very much.

"Won't you be needing that transfusion right about now?" The latter queried sharply to U-turn the conversation abruptly.

It had the desired squelching effect.

Max couldn't believe how quiet the dinner table was. For once it didn't sound like a pack of hyenas were having a quarrel.

The five of them sat around the table in the light of the myriad of candles Max had set out once the sun had gone done. The meal was a grubby selection of canned courses and pre-packaged food – that annoying lizard had shut down the power before the chicken had finished roasting.

Linda was eating her corned beef and veggie mix with all the elegance of a countess at a cocktail party, that disarming smile still playing at her lips.

Max didn't smile that often, she was beginning to realize. And she couldn't really make eating canned cauliflower look sexy either.

Max mentally smacked herself upside the head for catching herself comparing to this woman. Linda wasn't the one who got to wake up to Alec's delicious lips cupping hers and the words 'I love you' whispered huskily in her ear every morning.

The object of her long-term desire sat chewing silently and – Max had no doubt – grumbling inwardly about the poor quality of the food. There had been a time when TV dinners had been Alec's staple diet, but thirteen years of home cooking… admittedly, his own … had spoiled him rotten, and Max had to stifle a laugh when she wondered which her boy was really chewing- the food or his tongue.

"This is great." Linda spoke up breezily as she scraped some more hot dogs onto her fork, "Reminds me of the parties my dad and I used to have right after the Pulse hit."

Brac's eyebrows shot up, but a carefully-modulated warning glance from Alec silenced whatever foul remark his son had been about to make regarding the worst dinner their family had had in years bearing any resemblance to a festive occasion.

"We used to uh…" Linda chuckled softly, "set up candles and eat our survival stock on the floor, then belt out everything we knew from the Sting's Greatest Hits album."

"Sounds…festive." Max commented as she took a sip from her water glass, "Maybe we'll give that a shot sometime."

"Hey Brac, isn't it your birthday tonight?" Nyx added with a barely-suppressed snicker, and her brother pointed a finger at her sharply.

"Shut up."

"It's your birthday?" Too late. Linda had already caught on. "That's great!" She glanced over at Max, "Do you have anything planned?"

"Uh…" Max stammered for a moment and then shrugged with a raise of her eyebrows, "We're probably going to do something another night, what with the power down and all."

"Yeah you know, blackouts, curfews, noise level limits – we figured we'd have a Manticore Night." Brac commented sarcastically as he shifted his peas around on the edge of his plate.

Linda stiffened slightly at that remark.

"He's joking." Alec's tone was taut as he held his son's gaze disapprovingly, "Brac was never at Manticore to find out there was no such thing as a blackout."

"And _494_," Brac snapped, pushing away from the table and standing up, "was never in the real world to find out that there's such a thing as a real pissy birthday." He threw down his fork and walked quickly out of the kitchen.

The door to Brac's bedroom slamming shut was the first thing to pierce the icy silence that had settled like a frost over the remaining table-dwellers.

The second sound was Linda's quiet attempt at breaking the ice, "Max, would you mind passing me the salt?"

"Sure." Max handed the woman the said object, before standing up and beginning to clear away some of the empty cans. "I'm just gonna throw these away." She excused herself from the table and headed around the corner.

Alec pursed his lips as his zoom-vision caught sight of his mate walking down the hallway with the cans still in her hand. Max had a big heart under all her tough-girl bravado, and he loved her for it. That didn't mean he was happy about Max dignifying Brac's latest outburst with her undivided, instantaneous attention. Judging by his own experience, Alec would have let the kid sulk for an hour or two and _then_ sort things out.

But that was Maxie for ya.

Alec clapped vivaciously and then spread his hands, "Well Nyxie, I think we've been terrible hosts so far, makin' our guest eat tinned food by candlelight. Whaddya say we pop open some beers?"

Linda smiled appreciatively, "You really needn't go to all that trouble for me, Alec."

"Not a problem, Linda – they're all gonna get warm soon and then they'll be no good anyhow!" Alec remarked with a wink as he stacked up the plates, "Waste of beer that fine is a real heartbreak."

"That ice-cream Joshua gave us is gonna be melting too." Nyx stated with a greedy glint in her brown eyes as she and Linda finished clearing off the table.

Alec gave Linda a dramatic look of martyred resignation, and she laughed as he spoke. "I guess the kid'll have to have somethin' so the rest of us don't feel _too_ guilty."

"And then he was like 'you know, they say once a transgenic girl's been with a male of her own kind, she'll never be satisfied with an Ordinary'," Nyx was giggling with Linda as though the two had been best pals all their lives, Alec noted from his position reclining in his favorite armchair, his second beer perched reassuringly beside him and a magazine in his hands which provided a suitable retreat in case the conversation got too 'girly' for his tastes.

"And who is 'they'?" Linda laughed as she diverted her attention from the young girl just long enough to take a dainty swig of her beer.

"That's exactly what I said!" Nyx burst out animatedly, "I was like 'Whatever, Jinn, your come-on lines are _so_ Pre-Pulse'!"

"'Pre-Pulse' bein' Nyx's term for 'ancient'." Alec piped up dryly, and Linda let another chortle of amusement.

"And what did this Jinn guy have to say to _that_ one?" The woman pressed with a wicked smile on her face, and Nyx shook her head as she swallowed another spoonful of chocolate-caramel ice cream.

"I don't wanna say." She whispered with a grin that suggested otherwise, "My dad's in the room."

"Oh come on. He's not even listening." Linda whispered back, nodding at where Alec was visibly engrossed in his magazine. She scooted closer to the young X5 with a persuasive smile, "You know you want to tell me, sweetheart."

Nyx smiled knowingly and then threw a glance Alec's way before leaning in to mutter in a barely-perceptible whisper, "He said 'I dunno but give me one chance to prove it to you, sweet-ass'."

"I'll prove it to Jinn that _his_ ass won't be so sweet once I'm done kickin' it up between his shoulder blades."

The girls jumped at Alec's sudden and matter-of-fact interjection from between gulps of his beer as he flipped the page as intently as ever.

Linda shook her head with an open-mouthed smile and Nyx whined "Dad!"

"In the words of my lil' buddy Brac," Alec smirked and took another swig of his beer, "genetically-enhanced hearing's a real bitch'."

After Alec had settled Linda with the spare mattress that was kept in Nyx's room, and tucked his daughter in with a kiss, he tossed the empty beer bottles – he and Linda had drank seven between them – into the trash can and put the ice cream bowls in the sink. He'd wash them once there was water, Alec promised himself, and then laughed silently at how making excuses for his lack of tidiness had only become a habit after Max had entered his life.

Max.

Alec squared his shoulders as he stood outside of the door to Brac's bedroom, his hand hovering just above the door handle, uncertain as to whether he should venture into the proverbial lion's den (that description really did bear some weight when he remembered their feline DNA) or wait to see if his mate had made it out alive.

Alec's sensitive ears picked up the soft sound of deep breathing. Brac was asleep. His hand released the doorknob and he turned and headed into his own room, careful not to disturb the sleeping beauty that lay under the bed covers as he did so.

Alec would hear about whatever had transpired between Max and his son tomorrow, he was certain. He squinted as he glanced out the window at the black expanse that was now Terminal City. It looked sallow and ominous in the glow of the full, pale moon.

_Happy Birthday, Brac_.

Brac McDowell's eyes fluttered open in frustration as he gave up on what had been his third attempt at falling asleep. His conversation with his mother had helped to soothe his irritation and disappointment somewhat, but there was still enough ire burning at the pit of his core to prevent him from catching any shuteye.

Brac rubbed at his scruffy blonde hair as he swung his legs over the side of his bed and rose quietly to his feet, feeling the bite of the cold night air make his nipples and skin go hard as a rock. His bare feet moved quickly over the freezing linoleum of the kitchen floor as he adjusted a wrinkle in his black tank and poured himself a glass of the sour, tangy juice which Alec seemed to enjoy drinking so often.

Brac's sharp ears picked up on the woman's proximity before she even breathed a word.

"Can't sleep?" He muttered.

"I just needed a drink." Linda's whisper was husky, and she smelt of more then just the remains of her Charlie Red perfume and beer. Something about Brac's animal instincts clued the inexperienced boy in on the scent.

It was estrogen…and pheromones.

Brac felt his muscles tense. He'd been around plenty of transgenic females during their heat cycle – but ordinaries had a whole other set of smells going on. Maybe it didn't mean what he thought it did.

"Here," He grabbed up a glass and filled it with juice, turning to hand it to Linda. As he did so, the kid's heart jumped to his throat.

Linda Sandburg was standing only a couple of inches away from him, her soft, well-defined features gleaming in the light of the candles. Her tight, near-perfect form was encased in a sheer, red nightie that bore a much closer resemblance to kinky lingerie.

The most startling thing about the way the stunning woman was looking was the blatantly hungry twinkle in her eyes. Linda was looking at Brac's taut, scantily-clad body as though he were a sumptuous bar of chocolate.

"I'm after a different kind of juice." She whispered in response to the boy's earlier remark. Moving a hand ever so slowly to his face, Linda traced a nail down Brac's profile until it was dragging the neck of his tank down and exposing his chiseled chest.

Linda flicked her pink tongue over her already-moist lips and then eyed Brac challengingly as the boy swallowed hard and tried to get his head around what seemed to be happening.

"Do you want me, soldier-boy?"

She wasn't even waiting for a verbal response. The second Brac's lips parted, her mouth was clamping down on his, bombarding his lips with a brutal frenzy of passion. Her tongue danced inside the cavity of his mouth and dueled viciously with his own as she maximized the effect of her bruising kiss with a saucy chew of Brac's lower lip and a hand which raked down his chest and left a bleeding claw mark in its wake.

If he hadn't known his answer to her question, Brac knew it now. The brutal treatment had awakened his feral instincts, and before Linda had even finished her work on his mouth, Brac's arms were slamming her onto the counter and tearing open the front of her nightie.

She moaned in satisfaction as she adjusted her position, spreading her legs and leaning back on her palms as her ankles crossed around Brac's torso.

"Now take me – and don't be gentle either."

"Shut up." Brac growled as he pillaged Linda's mouth with his teeth and tongue, pulling the remnants of her dress aside to expose her firm, round breasts that were peaked with brown nipples as hard as erasers – nipples which Brac's teeth and fingers were closed around as his other hand reached between Linda's legs and gripped her in a way that made the woman's body shudder.

"Don't!" Sandburg whispered between sharp intakes of breath at the mix of pleasure and pain that was toying with her breast, "The only thing that's going there is your penis, soldier-boy!"

Brac hesitated for a moment. He had never been inside a woman before, or even come close to the bases he was now being ordered to bypass. For a split second he faltered…and the next thing he knew, Brac's muscular ass was being clawed at by a pair of nails as he plunged himself into Linda's moist warmth.

"Hard and fast, soldier-boy…" She ordered in sharp gasps as she wrapped her legs around Brac's upper back and ravaged his neck with her mouth.

Without fully knowing what he was doing …or fully knowing why…Brac proceeded to oblige her.

"No sign of those jets last night." Alec sounded rather disappointed as he accepted the plate of food that Max was placing in front of him with a nod of his head, "Seems to me Mole's intel might for once have been as dodgy as his source." He furrowed his brows at the workbook that Nyx had given over to him in desperation as she divided her attention between her food and a pile of study material.

No-one responded to his statement. Max was busy dishing out the breakfast she had thrown together – bread, ham and pickles.

Linda and Brac were sitting side by side, both looking incredibly ill at ease and determined that the less-then-gourmet food on their plates was the biggest source of interest on the planet.

Alec seemed to take no notice of this as he continued, flipping a page and then grimacing in frustration. "How do they expect a kid your age to be able to understand this crap, Nyxie - I can't make head or tail of it!"

"It's biochemistry." Nyx responded adamantly as she took a swig of her milk, "Lute says we have to know what's goin' on inside of us."

"Well I never studied this junk and I can tell you what's goin' on inside of me and that's starvation – pass me a couple of them buns, would you Maxie?"

"Sure," Max responded softly, and her tone caused her mate to glance up from his food and catch sight of Max studying the tablecloth patterns in a subdued manner.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine."

And she was avoiding his gaze. Alec stifled the urge to feel alarmed, but it still lingered at the edge of his consciousness. This was Max's 'I've done something really bad and don't want to tell you' act. Or else it was her 'I _know_ something really bad and don't want to tell you' show.

They were almost identical – and Alec hated working around either. Still, now his curiosity was aroused.

"Max, can I…uh…run somethin' by you real quick?" He didn't wait for her to respond as he rose to his feet and stalked just outside the door of their apartment. The grubby landing was the only place where he and Max had ever been able to hold a conversation completely out of earshot with their children in the house.

Alec had only been waiting for a couple of minutes when Max stepped out and closed the door behind her, the morose, pensive expression still hanging about her features.

Alec looked down and fingered the remains of a ratty paper he had found in his jacket pocket before he finally spoke.

"You gonna tell me what's up, Maxie, or am I gonna have to beat it out of you?"

Max remained silent save for a quiet sigh that escaped her lips. Behind them, a group of feline nomalies who shared a pad above the McDowell's clattered down the stairs, talking excitedly amongst themselves. The dominant male, a panther-like nomalie named Tyke, called out a greeting to Max and Alec as they continued down to the ground floor.

Alec returned the neighbourly gesture absently as the group's chattering moved further down the stairwell. When all was silent again, he spoke up once more.

"Max, if it's somethin' I did, why don't you just spit it out?"

"It's nothing you did, Alec." She responded softly, eyes still glued to the ground, "It's nothing I can't deal with either; don't sweat it."

"Oh I'm not sweatin', Maxie, in fact you've got me real cold all of a sudden…"

"Brac and Linda had sex."

The words tore from Max's mouth and hit Alec like a stun prod in the gut.

"What?"

"I got up last night at around four in the morning. Couldn't sleep – I was feeling bad for Brac, I guess." She shrugged, trying not to catch a glimpse of the look on her mate's face.

Alec looked like he was going to be sick.

"I heard noises, so I went into stealth mode to check it out. Thought it might have been a burglar or something. And then I saw them." Max's tone was even but there was a glimmer of disgust, shock and hurt in her soft, brown eyes.

"They were on the couch…Brac's back was torn up pretty bad. He was riding her like…" A tear escaped Max's eye and dripped down her cheek, "some kind of animal..." Her voice trailed off as she shook her head helplessly. "There was blood, Alec."

Alec rested his hands on the stair rail and took a deep breath, closing his eyes and counting to five before he answered his mate.

"Brac's X-series, Max. He was probably just following his mating instincts and was too young to know about how little an ordinary can actually handle…"

"No, Alec." Max's tone was firm as she wiped at her cheek with her sweater sleeve. "He was hurting her on purpose – and from what I saw, she wanted him to."

Alec had seen that look in Max's eyes enough times before to know it was a reflection of anguish and disappointment. She'd thrown it his way many years before – when he had been framed for a murder his psychotic twin had committed.

Alec had often wondered what it was like for Max being mated to one version of Ben and mothering another. There were times he'd catch her looking wistfully at Brac when her son was laughing in the sunlight of a relatively free and safe world.

There were other times when Alec would have to remind Max that their son was not necessarily Ben Junior when it came to the tell-tale signs of aggression that the pubescent teenager was beginning to manifest.

She was looking at him now, and that hurt look had turned into one of silent pleading. Alec quickly placed an arm around his mate and pulled her into his chest the reassuring way he always did when she was asking him to make things better.

Brac's behavior had shattered Max – Alec could tell. She had no idea what to do.

Neither did he – but he was going to have to bluff it for the sake of the woman he adored.

"I'll take care of this, Maxie."

"Just get her out of my house, Alec…" Max broke down and began to sob.

And that was when Alec knew that this was really, really bad.

"Dad, your cell phone rang while you were gone." Nyx piped up as Alec walked slowly back into the dining area of the kitchen, hands dug into his pockets. Max had gone to hang at Joshua's for the rest of the morning – at her request and Alec's subsequent insistence.

Max needed some time to cool way down, otherwise both Linda and Brac would probably end up with even worse injuries then the ones they had allegedly inflicted on each other the night before.

"Couldn't have been mine – phones are dead, remember, Nyxie?" Alec ambled over to the said item and picked it up as casually as possible.

"Well something buzzed and it sounded a heck of a lot like your phone." Nyx shrugged as she stood up.

Linda and Brac were clearing the table in utter silence, the former avoiding Alec's gaze with a passion as she moved past him with a stack of dishes.

"Excuse me," Linda murmured, and as her back brushed against Alec's arm, she let out a barely audible whimper.

Alec had heard it, of course – and seized the opportunity. He placed a hand on Linda's shoulder and stopped her in tracks.

"Whoa, whoa, hold up there, sweetheart – what was the wince for? Did I hurt you somehow – cuz you know they say we _X5s_…" he glanced up pointedly at Brac, "don't know our own strength."

Linda's shoulders were tightening as she shrugged off Alec's hand with a little laugh.

"Just stepped on my toe. Don't worry about it." She smiled and continued over to the kitchen counter. Alec raised an eyebrow and pursued, coming to stand behind Brac and Linda with a careless smirk as they stacked the dishes.

"So Linda, how'd you sleep last night? Was that mattress comfortable – I remember it havin' a dent in the springs right under my back; it was a real pain in the…"

"It was very comfortable, Alec – thank you for setting it up." Linda cut him off reassuringly, that smile still pasted to her lips – lips which, Alec noted all of a sudden, were looking a little swollen.

"No problem." His green eyes trailed down to the nape of her turtle-neck sweater and back up again, "Glad one of us enjoyed it."

Linda smiled nervously and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear before moving on. Alec's eyes flicked keenly over the first bit of flesh Linda had exposed that morning.

The lobe of her ear was crusted with dried blood that looked like it had been picked at in an effort to eliminate its obvious appearance.

Brac still hadn't said a word to acknowledge his father's presence as he soaped up a sponge and proceeded to wipe the counters with a determined pout on his lips. He reached up to a nearby cupboard, and as his shirt rose slightly, Alec caught sight of an unmistakable remnant of a claw mark – five long, thin, parallel trails still hot with fresh scabbing on Brac's hip.

Back at Manticore, Lydecker had always taught that the moment to strike was the moment that sufficient proof of guilt showed its face.

Brac had stopped scrubbing and was resting both hands on the counter in a long, determined silence which suggested that he was well aware of Alec's eyes on his back. His jaw was set and his eyes were downcast.

X5 – 494 knew that was his boy's classic face of culpability.

"Hey Brackie-boy, is it just me or does that bug spray Mom doused the sofa in bite ya all the way over here?"

Alec was sending a less-then-cryptic message to the guilty pair; he wanted them to come clean of their own volition – but he was ready to expose them if they kept up with the pretence.

Brac must have inherited Maxie's inability to lie…along with her inability to admit when she was beat. The kid was keeping his lip zipped.

"Alec, I was wondering if there was any way that I could get in touch with Logan." Linda was hastily switching topics as she placed the salt and pepper shakers back in their respective places, "He said Sung might contact him today with information on a lead about my father…"

"You and Logan are gonna have plenty of time to talk things over on your trip back to Detroit," Alec sniffed matter-of-factly and then grinned at the confused expression on Sandburg's face, "unless of course you've fucked his son as well and he'd prefer to let you rough it on the train."

"I'm sorry?!" Linda was pulling the affronted, whiny chick act on him.

Alec could deal with that.

"No you're not." His smile vanished and a menacing darkness overcame his countenance, "but you will be if you stick around. Now grab your bags and get the fuck outta my house."

"Dad!" Brac hissed sharply, breaking his silence and whirling around, "It's not her…"

"Shut your mouth, Brac, before I give it a _real_ bruising!" Alec barked at his son, and the kid's jaw snapped shut in silent fury.

"How dare you accuse me of sleeping with a child who is less then _half_ my own age…?" Began Linda, who was now in the full bloom of misjudged fury.

"_Beat it_, bitch, before I show you how a fuck with an X5 your _own_ _age_ is gonna feel!" Alec yelled, and Linda scurried into Nyx's room as though she couldn't slam the door fast enough.

_Good riddance_. Alec's eyes moved to his son. Brac was staring at him open-mouthed, his face flushed hot with contempt – and shame.

"Get over here." Alec motioned with his head for his boy to move closer. Brac didn't budge. His jaw was clenched tightly and as hard as he was trying to look angry, it was terror that was oozing out of his every pore, and even if Alec hadn't been able to see it, he could sure as hell smell it.

"Brac, for God's sake, I just wanna get you cleaned up before your mom comes back and sees those open wounds you got all over you – now come on!" Alec snapped, and Brac hesitated only a moment before complying, following his dad into the bathroom.

"Ah…" Brac winced and inhaled sharply at the sting which coursed through his nerves as Alec dabbed a particularly nasty bite mark - which had drawn blood – with a cotton swab soaked in cleansing alcohol.

"Come on, man, what'd you do – roll around in a pile of lint to try to mask the after-sex aroma?" Alec frowned as he removed some dodgy-looking fluff from the cuts. He applied a band-aid to the bite mark and then stood back a couple of paces to survey his work.

"Jesus, Brac, would you take a look at this – I mean, how the hell am I supposed to get you lookin' like you weren't just freakin' flogged before your mom gets home, huh buddy?" Alec appraised his son's shredded back with his hands on his hips and a look of desperate exasperation pasted on his features.

Brac had no response. He merely gripped the counter harder and sent the muscles in his back into a ripple.

"Although now that I recall, you mother already _saw_ this masterpiece in all its newborn glory." Alec sighed and rubbed his forehead…and watched his recalcitrant son from underneath the hand to see what effect the statement had on the boy.

The muscles in Brac's temples clenched along with his jaw.

"Mom walked in on us?" He spoke in a quiet, small voice.

"More like crept up on the pair of you eatin' each other alive." The memory of Max's pained expression burning strong in Alec's mind caused his tone to come out harsher then he had intended.

"Shit," Brac's forehead hit the counter, and Alec suppressed the urge to feel like an ogre for having just heaped the lead cherry on the ten-ton cake of guilt he'd been force-feeding his boy.

Brac had gone quiet, but the silent shuddering of his shoulders preempted the hissing sobs which soon escaped his mouth. It had taken a fair amount to break the boy down, Alec thought, but at least the weeping sounded genuinely contrite. Brac had taken the punishment of having his cuts scrubbed up with little more then an occasional moan – but realizing the anguish he had undoubtedly caused his mother was what had finally brought on a visible display of regret.

Feeling that he had administered all the discipline he had a heart to at that moment, Alec abandoned the stern front he had rigidly put up and moved quietly to Brac's side. He leant over and placed an arm carefully around his son's beat-up shoulder.

"I didn't want to do it…" He was choking on his own tears as he cried, "I could see it all happening, I could see myself biting, scratching, pounding her, but I just couldn't bring myself to stop!"

"Shh…" Alec stroked Brac's hair away from his face, "Brac, buddy, I know it wasn't you, alright? It's just a nasty little side-affect of our otherwise-advantageous cat DNA."

"Do you think I'm an animal, Dad?" Brac sniffed and wiped his nose between deep, throaty sobs.

Alec - over-confident, always-have-an-answer-for-everything Alec - blanched at that question. _Of course you're an animal, Brac. We're all animals – well, part of us at any rate. They made us that way._

"She _said_ I was," Brac wasn't finished yet, "told me not to be afraid of the tiger inside of me – she said it would make me stronger if I let it all out." He hiccoughed and wiped at the tears on his face.

"Do _you_ think you're an animal, son?" Alec answered quietly as he rested his hand on the nape of Brac's nape comfortingly. "Maxie and I – do we act like animals to you? Nyx, Gem, any of these names ring the beastie bell in your mind, Brac?"

"You're always sayin' how we're not any different from the nomalies." Brac reminded him skeptically, his voice still hoarse and quivering.

"No, Brac – you and Nyxie aren't the same as the rest of us. Me, Mole, Dix, your mom, we were all cloned and assembled like a lego castle in some lab. We aren't any different. Well…" Alec admitted with a chuckle, "some of us are prettier then others. But you and Nyx came about in the exact same way that Linda Sandburg did, and frankly after seein' the results of _her_ 'instincts' firsthand, I'm convinced that woman had no business tellin' _my_ son that _he_ was the animal."

Brac closed his eyes as tears rolled from underneath their lids. Alec ran his fingers through his kid's hair and held him quietly as Brac buried his head in Alec's jacket and sobbed.

When Max came home that evening, Linda Sandburg had long been banished from Terminal City – and Alec's relentless glare. He'd had to twist Mole's arm in more then one direction to get the old lizard to cough out a beat-up Volkswagen for Linda's getaway vehicle. Then Alec had had to sweet-talk an ass-kissing X6 to escort her.

Sandburg had been a nicely-wrapped package of pain-in-the-ass, Alec thought ruefully – but at least she'd flown the coop and would get her wish of hearing from Logan Cale thoroughly fulfilled in no time…at least, after the tongue-lashing the man had received from Alec (the phone line must still be burning) the X5 hoped that was the case.

If not, Alec mentally noted that he would 'call in a favor' and demand that Logan bunk up Mole for a couple of days. Hell, scratch Mole – that nomalie was too damn soft underneath all those scales. Alec would resurrect Madame Renfro and escort her to the Cale's door himself.

Maybe it wasn't fair for him to be so pissed at Logan – but 'fair' was not a word in Alec's vocabulary when it came to the strong protective urges the transgenic had regarding his family. The damage Sandburg had inflicted on Brac went much deeper then the wounds on his skin, Alec knew, and he tasted bile in his throat as the image of his thirteen year-old kid crying like a baby into Alec's chest burned fresh in the X5's vision.

"Hey Maxie," He glanced over his shoulder from where he was setting alight the last batch of candles they'd rustled up to fend off the cold darkness of dead- zone-TC.

She'd picked the lock, he noted. Maybe she was afraid of knocking and coming face-to-face with Linda.

"How's everything?" Max queried, glancing around warily as she shifted the large shopping bag she was holding from one arm to the other. She was in better spirits after her stint at Joshua's. Dog-Boy always seemed to have a positive effect on his 'Little Fella'.

"Depends," Alec shrugged, pocketing his lighter and turning to face his mate. "Linda's gone back to Detroit without needin' reconstructive surgery, so I guess in terms of how violently this all blew over, the only one who's gonna be need med care is Brac."

"How is he?" Max asked quickly without looking at Alec, walking to the kitchen and placing her bag on the counter. Alec pursed his lips and followed her.

"He's sleeping. Poor kid went out like a log in my arms after last night's exhausting events coupled with all the cryin' he did." Alec followed Max's gaze down to the damp patches on his jacket and sweater, and kicked himself in the ass mentally for not having the sensitivity to remove the glaring evidence of Brac's distress before Max had to have it shoved in her face.

"This is all my fault." Max shook her head and turned away, "I should never have let my wanting to help Logan get in the way of protecting my children."

Under normal circumstances, Alec would have berated her for falling back into her former guilt-tripping habits he'd worked hard to cure her from.

Mercifully, her mate administered a milder dose of the said medicine.

"Max you can't go blaming yourself for this. We both decided Linda was worth helpin' and if anyone besides the pair of'em is at fault here it's me."

Max scoffed, "Alec, please…"

"I'm serious! If I had gone and talked to Brac instead of lettin' you do it for me, chances are he wouldna have done it."

"Alec, don't go taking the flak for any of this." Max remonstrated as she turned to face him, "You're the one who always seems to end up cleaning up after all of my mistakes."

Alec grinned but didn't rebuff the statement. "Just payin' you back for all the times you saved my ass when we were younger, Maxie."

"Hey!" She laughed quietly and slugged him in the arm, "That ass of yours is still young enough to kick, smart-aleck! Don't be tearin' yourself down when you won't let me have a go at _my_self!"

"You know one of these days you're gonna have to start hitting me on the other shoulder, cuz this one's gonna be actin' up in my old age if it keeps takin' a pounding like the one you're faithful to give it at least twice a day!" Alec joined Max in her laughing as they threw their arms around each other to relish one of those moments where the world and all its shit not only didn't matter – it didn't exist anymore.

"God I love you, Alec." Max whispered happily as she snuggled against his chest and felt it swell with satisfaction at her declaration.

"Because I'm fun to hit?" He teased in response, "Come on Max you know that's why you love you me."

She exhaled in playful frustration, "No Alec, it's because you somehow manage to pull off being a hero to your kids and impressing the hell out of a hard-boiled, ex-Manticore bitch like me at the same time."

"Make a wish, make a wish!"

Nyx was bubbling over with excitement - and practically hopping up and down with impatience.

Brac scowled at his sister from behind the massive chocolate cake sitting on the tabletop in front of him. "Would you quit bein' ansty? The cake's not gonna up and beat it just because I'm taking my own sweet time!"

Nyx whimpered hungrily and Original Cindy pouted and raised her eyebrows.

"Boo, let Alec Junior have his fun, aiight? Your brother's been waitin' a whole seven days to celebrate his transition to the teenage population!"

"I'm down with that, O.C – just as long as he doesn't make me wait a whole seven days to get a slice of that beauty!" Nyx protested with a whinge, and Max laughed at the exchange before taking another sip of her beer. Alec and Mole had brought out their private stash of the stuff for the special birthday bash they were finally able to throw Brac now that the scare had blown over – without any signs of the ominous jets in question, of course.

Not that Max was complaining. She was just glad that her families – both immediate and extended – were safe from prying eyes for the time being.

Speaking of prying eyes – what was Sketchy doing staring at her tits? Max was beginning to remember why she'd hesitated before inviting a clan of her and Alec's old Jam Pony pals to their son's thirteenth.

Wait. It was because it meant another blood transfusion on Max's part. She laughed again as Alec loudly booed the hagglers who were yelling out for Brac to hurry up and blow the candles out.

"Pipe down or the booze is pullin' out!" He was informing them with a laugh as he leant over Brac and lowered his voice conspiratorially.

"Come on, buddy, I can't hold'em off much longer. What's it gonna be?"

Brac was silent as he stared at the flickering dance of the candle flame. He turned and looked into Alec's eyes with a remorseful expression in his own, his eyebrows titled up in pitiable hope.

"Do you think that…" He turned his gaze back to the cake in front of him, "Do you think I could wish to forget? You know…forget…her?" Brac's voice trailed off wistfully and his face went tight with that annoying combination of guilt and shame that Alec had officially banned his son from wearing.

Alec shrugged and raised his eyebrows, "If you're anything like me?" He smirked, "Absolutely."

Brac was quiet for a minute before he laughed and shook his head, leaning over and blowing out the candles with a single, gasping breath.

"Dang, Boo, I know you mus' be sick of hearin' this, but your boys combined are enough to make any lesbo sister besides Original Cindy start walkin' the straight and narrow!" OC commented as she topped up Max's beer with a grin and nodded from their position on one of 'the pool hall's' ratty couches at Alec and Brac.

Max smiled tightly at the remark as she looked down at the frothy liquid in her glass. "Guess I gotta live with that, huh?"

"Girl, you got nuthin' to worry about with a honey as fine as Golden Boy over there. He's still as cocky as ever, don't get me wrong – but Original Cindy sees how Alec looks at you." She smiled saucily, "He is _all_ yours, Boo."

Max blushed and her smile widened as she glanced up at where Alec, Brac, Sketchy and Mole were starting up a game of pool. The X5's eager eyes had a softness to them that had first shown its face when Max had told him she loved him, and had grown progressively since Brac and Nyx had come into the world.

"I spent six months telling myself how much I didn't love Alec – and fourteen years later I'm still realizing just how much I do." Max nodded and raised her glass in O.C's direction, "Here's to finally finding out the easy way that girls as messed-up as we are ain't above findin' the love of our lives!"

"Right on, Boo," O.C clinked her glass to Max's, "right on."

"Place your bets, my lovely feminine spectators!" Sketchy was crooning in their ears all of a sudden as he chalked up his cue stick, "Odds are me and Mole spank Brac and Alec, ten-zip!"

Max raised her eyebrows with an amused grin as she turned to O.C, "What do you think? Should we back the underdog for a change?"

"Feel free to binge with the betting, Maxie," Alec called out from where he was laying out the pool balls. "It's all goin' straight back into your pocket after the game!"

"Speakin' of bingeing, my darling Nubian Princess," Sketchy was giving O.C one of his trademark irritating smiles, "should you really be drinking when you've got a bun in the oven?"

O.C pouted furiously, "I will put the smack down on yo' ass, fool, and transgenic or no, Alec and Max ain't gonna do a thing about it!" Having successfully frightened Sketch off, she turned to Max with a wry face. "Pay the fool no mind, Max – Sketchy hears with selection!"

"You pregnant, Cindy?" Max squealed excitedly, and her friend looked like she was about to throttle her as she shook her head adamantly.

"Original Cindy don't get her kicks from the male quarter of the changin' lockers, Boo, and don't go thinkin' otherwise!" She smiled knowingly as she took a sip of her beer, "But every now and then a woman's gotta feel somethin' not run on battery power and bigger then a 7-Eleven hot dog 'tween her legs…"

"O.C!" Max crinkled her nose in disgust at the graphic terminology, "Brac and Nyx are in the room – remember the part about genetically-enhanced hearing?"

"That was in retaliation for the 'you up the spout' remark yelled out at a hundred decibels not two seconds earlier!" O.C retorted dourly, and Max shook her head and looked over at the pool game that was now in full swing.

Brac was preparing to shoot, and Alec was leaning over him and adjusting his son's aim while talking into his ear and explaining the first step in his grand strategy with animated eagerness.

Max couldn't help but smile. Brac was beginning to look his carefree, happy-go-lucky self again – and as usual, it was largely thanks to Alec. Her mate had spared no expense in throwing his son the night on the town he had promised him…even though it had cost him a shit-load of beer and an invasion of privacy in the form of his pool hall which was now packed out with Brac's acquaintances – most of whom Alec couldn't stand.

"You know what, O.C? Despite all the freak occurrences doin' their best to screw up my life," Max turned to her friend with a smile, "I'm one damn lucky girl."

To Be Continued


End file.
